ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses a new period of prosperity under the sukkalmah rulers, characterized by a governmental (and territorial?) re-organization that saw Elam rise in tandem with Assyria, Babylonia, Larsa, and Mari to be one of the main political and military powerbrokers of the time. The expansionistic outlook of the sukkalmahs attested in texts is reflected in a wealth of monumental archaeological and artistic remains. Elam’s western capital Susa reached around 85 ha. in extent, undergoing an expansion toward the east with a succession of new constructions in the Ville Royale. These new neighborhoods have preserved for us unique examples of the adaptation of vernacular domestic mudbrick architecture to the scorching climate of southwest Iran. The evidence in the Zagros mountains is equally significant: a spectacular open-air sanctuary was manufactured at Kurangun atop a mountain outcrop, while the eastern capital of Anshan (Tal-e Malyan) reached its maximum extent of no less than 130 ha.